Holders for storage and like containers



A ril 23, 1968 J F. KENNEDY 3,379,399

HOLDERS FOR STORAGE AND LIKE CONTAINERS Filed Oct. 24. 1965 United States Patent HOLDERS FOR STORAGE AND LIKE CONTAINERS Jerome Francis Kennedy, 13 Ashworth Road, London W. 9, England Filed Oct. 24, 1965, Ser. No. 505,065

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Nov. 9, 1964,

45,669/ 64 6 Claims. (Cl. 248312) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 10 A holder for supporting storage and like containers of the kind having a lip or projecting flange below the mouth by means of which lip the container can be slida'bly supported on a pair of runners forming part of the holder and engaging on either side of the container under the lip when the container is inserted into the holder, the holder being adapted to be mounted to the underside of a shelf or like surface.

This invention rel-ates to holders for supporting storage and like containers being containers of the kind having a lip or projecting flange (hereinafter referred to for convenience simply as a lip) below the mouth by means 0 of which lip the container can be slidably supported on a pair of runners forming part of the holder and engaging on either side of the container under the lip when the container is inserted into the holder, the holder being adapted so to be fixed, e.g. to the underside of a shelf or 30 like surface, as to suspend the container from the holder by means of the runners.

Such a holder is known which comprises a mounting plate made from sheet material and having pressed out therefrom a pair of runners which retain a cover or lid for the container mouth but permit forward and backward slidable movement of the cover between them, the runners having ledges which are adapted to engage beneath the lip of the container, the distance between the plane of these ledges and the plane of the mounting plate or some part thereof engaged by the top of the cover being such that as the container is inserted and moved back between the runners the cover and the container mouth are pressed firmly together, the junction between the runners and the mounting plate being more rigid than other parts of the mounting plate so that insertion of the container into the holder produces slight resilient flexing of another part or parts of the mounting plate. Such a holder will be termed a holder of the kind specified.

In one such known holder there is pressed out of the mounting plate a resilient tongue (designated 25 in the drawings thereof) which presses down against the cover of the container. The tongue is V-shaped in plan and has a wavy formation in side elevation, one object of this wavy formation being to shorten the etfective length of the tongue and to permit its being pushed up without obstruction into the V-shaped hole from which the tongue was pressed out.

The present invention is concerned with an improvement in a holder of the kind specified, and in particular with an improved form of tongue.

According to the present invention, in a holder of the kind specified there is pressed out of the mounting plate a resilient tongue which presses down against the cover when the latter is mounted in the holder, at least an 3,379,399 Patented Apr. 23, 1968 intermediate portion of the tongue lying below the mounting plate to engage the top of the cover, the tongue and the top of the cover being so shaped that when the cover approaches at least the forward end of its normal range of movement in the holder with the container in place beneath it the tongue is thereby moved upwards in relation to the mounting plate until a portion of the tongue engages an abutment to resist further upward movement of the tongue and hence further movement of the cover.

This helps to prevent inadvertent complete removal of the cover upon withdrawal of the container and, in addition, affords sufficient grip upon the cover to reduce or prevent inadvertent movements of the cover during deliberate replacement of the container. The resistance to upward movement of the tongue may also serve to prolong the effective life of the resilience of the tongue.

The invention may be performed in various ways, and two specific embodiments will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional elevation of the mounting plate secured to the underside of a shelf or like surface;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-section through one form of the cover;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary inverted plan view of a portion of the cover shown in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation of the mounting plate as shown in FIGURE 1, with a container inserted;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the mounting plate showing the arrangement of the tongue, this view being somewhat exaggerated to illustrate the engagement of one side of the tongue with the hole in the mounting plate;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional elevation of the mounting plate of another embodiment; and

FIGURE 7 is a sectional elevation of the mounting plate shown in FIGURE 6, with a container inserted.

Referring particularly to FIGURES 1 to 5, the holder illustrated comprises a sheet metal pressing having a flat centre portion 10, a short upstanding front wall 11 and a short upstanding rear wall 12. It is secured to the underside of a shelf 9 or like surface with the front wall 11 overlapping the front of the shelf. Countersunk holes 13 for fixing screws are formed in the flat centre portion of the holder.

Pressed out from the material of the flat centre portion 10 are pairs of runners 14. Each runner has an upper wall portion 15 which is provided with buttresses 16 affording rigidity to the junction between the runner and the flat centre portion 10. Projecting inwardly from the lower edge of each upper wall portion 15 is an upper ledge 17, which upper ledges lie substantiall arallel to the centre portion 10. The upper ledges 17 of each pair of runners 14 supports a cover or lid 18 for a container 22. Below the upper ledge 17 each runner has a lower wail portion 19 the lower edge of which is turned inwards to provide a lower ledge 20. The lower ledge is adapted to engage beneath a lip or projecting flange 21 immediately below the mouth of the container 22. Each lower ledge slopes upwardly from front to rear, while its front end is bent outwardly and downwardly to form a lead-in 23 for the container lip 21.

Also pressed downwardly out of the flat centre portion 10 of the mounting plate between each pair of runners 14 is a V-shaped tongue 24. When there is no lid in the holder this tongue occupies the position in which it is shown in FIGURE 1, with all portions of the tongue lying below the centre portion 10. Towards its tip the tongue is bent upwardly as shown at 25, the upward bend being effected by a crease or fold 26. As best seen in FIGURE 5, this crease or fold 26 is oblique with respect to the longitudinal centre line of the tongue, and that centre line is itself slightly inclined with respect to the centre line of the V-shaped hole from which the tongue was pressed out. This symmetrical distortion of the tongue can be achieved by pressing it out slightly more deeply on one side than the other, or by making the crease or fold line 27 at the root of the tongue not quite perpendicular to the centre line of the V-shaped hole. The effect of the slight inclination of the centre line of the tongue is that one side of the portion of the tongue between the creases or fold lines 26 and 27 slightly underlies the corresponding edge of the V-shaped hole, as indicated by the broken line. On the other hand, the obliquity of the crease or fold line 26 has the effect of returning the tip 25 of the tongue towards the centre line of the V-shaped hole so that it can pass freely upwards through the V-shaped hole, at least for most of its length. However, the tongue cannot be pushed completely up through the V-shaped hole because a portion of it, i.e. the portion bounded by the broken line in FIGURE 5, will engage the side of the V-shaped hole so that the latter acts as an abutment to resist further upward movement of the tongue. The top surface of the cover 18 is slightly recessed as shown at 28 in FIGURE 2, and when the cover is in position in the holder the lowest portion of the tongue lies in this recess. When the cover 18 is moved rearwardly between the runners 14 on insertion of the container 22 between the inclined low ledges 20, the cover can be moved relatively freely for a certain distance until the tongue begins to ride up on the forward slope 29 of the recess. When the tongue has been raised thereby until its side engages the side of the V-shaped hole as described above, further rearward movement of the cover is more strongly resisted. Owing to the inclination of the lower ledges 20, as the container 22 is moved rearwardly a progressively increasing pressure is provided against the underside of the cover 18 so that this cover is squeezed between the mouth of the container 22 and the centre portion of the holder 10. To provide effective sealing, the underside of the cover is provided with an annular gasket 33 made of a compressible material such as cork. The sealing effect can be enhanced by rotating the container with a screwing motion as it is inserted into the holder. This can be done exclusively by the user, or it is possible so to arrange the device that the container has an inherent tendency to rotation as one pushes it back into the holder. This can be achieved by arranging one of the lower ledges 20 at a slightly greater distance from the centre portion than the other lower ledge, so that there is a greater resistance to rearward movement on one side of the container than on the other. Alternatively, or in addition, the tongue 24 and the V-shaped hole may be disposed symmetrically in relation to the runners, so that the tongue engages the cover 18 eccentrically. Thus, as the insertion of a container 22 pushes the cover 18 rearwards, the cover itself tends to roate in relation to the holder. There may also be positive provision to limit rearward movement of the cover 18, for example, a pimple 34 which is pressed out of the centre portion 10 and against which the cover 18 engages when in its rearmost position. Instead of the pimple 34, the rear of the centre portion 10 of the holder may be provided with a downwardly impressed rib or joggle. When the rear edge of the cover 18 engages the pimple 34 or the corresponding rib or joggle, any attempt to force the cover further towards the rear by pushing hard on the container will have the effect of pushing the rear edge of the cover downwards as it rides upon the pimple, rib or joggle so that this will not only restrict further movement but also enhance still further the sealing of the cover against the container mouth.

On withdrawal of a container the cover can slide forwards relatively freely while the lowest point of the tongue is on the bottom of the recess 28, until the tongue begins to ride up on the sloping rear wall of the recess and again comes up against the abutment, whereupon further forward movement of the cover 18 is more strongly resisted. Inadvertent complete withdrawal of the cover 18 in the forward direction is also prevented by providing a pair of pimples 30 in front of each of the runners 14. In addition, to provide a further positive safeguard against inadvertent withdrawal of the cover 18, the forward edges of the upper walls 15 of the runners may be bent inwards slightly as at 31. When this is done it is necessary to make provision for insertion of the lid 18 on assembly of the holder, and to facilitate this the lid is provided with a notch 32 at one point in its periphery. To insert the lid, the notch 32 is placed against the inwardly bent forward edge 31 of one of the runners and the lid is pushed rearwards with a rotating motion, the centre of rotation being the point of engagement of the notch 32 with this forward edge 31, until the point diametrically opposite the notch 32 has passed the inwardly bent forward edge of the opposite runner.

In another embodiment as illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7 the positive resistance against upward movement of the tongue is achieved in a different way. In this embodiment the tip portion 41 of the tongue 40 has a considerably greater curvature than the tip portion 25 in the embodiment shown in FIGURES l to 5, so that the tip portion lies at all times above the level of the centre portion 10 of the holder. The limitation of upward movement of the tongue 40 is achieved by the tip 41 coming into engagement with the underside of the shelf 9 or the like to which the holder is secured, as shown in FIG- URE 7.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is: 1. A holder, container and cover assembly, said container having a neck with a projecting lip, said holder supporting said container in suspended relationship therewith and comprising a sheet metal mounting plate having pressed out therefrom a pair of runners which receive said cover in sliding relation between themselves and said mounting plate and which are spaced, apart sufficiently to receive said neck of said container slidably between them, ledges integral with said runners and disposed below the latter to engage beneath said lip of said.

container, said ledges sloping upwardly from front to rear towards said mounting plate, and a residient tongue pressed partially out of said mounting plate thereby leaving a hole in said mounting plate with a portion of said tongue lying below said mounting plate to engage said cover, said tongue and said cover being so shaped that when said cover approaches the forward end of its normal range of movement in said holder with said container in place beneath it, said tongue is thereby moved upwards in relation to said mounting plate, said tongue being distorted relative to said hole in said mounting plate whereby on said upward movement at least one side of said tongue engages at least one edge of said hole and further upward movement of said tongue and further movement of said cover are thereby resisted.

2. A holder, container and cover assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the top of the cover has walls defining a shallow recess which receives said tongue, said walls being inclined so that said tongue is moved upwards by a wedging action of these inclined walls as said cover approaches the forward and backward ends of its normal range of movement.

3. A holder, container and cover assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said tongue has sufiicient resilience to permit withdrawal of said cover past the forward end of its normal range of movement, by application to said cover of force greater than that which is normally ap- 5 plied to it when removing said container from said holder.

4. A holder, container and cover assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said distortion of said tongue is a spreading of the metal produced during the operation of pressing said tongue out of said mounting plate.

5. A holder, container and cover assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said distortion of said tongue is effected by tilting its centre line to one side of the centre line of said hole in said mounting plate.

6. A holder, container and cover assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which said cover has notch means at least at one point in its periphery.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,525,210 10/1950 Del Camp 248-800 XR 2,816,667 12/1957 Tamay 211-76 0 2,921,690 1/1960 Smith et a1. 211-73 FOREIGN PATENTS 759,184 10/ 1956 Great Britain.

10 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

I. FRANKLIN FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

